Chaos! Now Russia halts Egypt flights leaving thousands of tourists ‘trapped’

Russia is suspending flights to the whole of Egypt amid growing evidence that a jet with 224 people on board was blown up by a terrorist bomb. Vladimir Putin - who had previously dismissed claims of Islamic State involvement in the Metrojet disaster - said he was ordering his government to draft a plan for getting Russians currently in the country home. The Russian President’s U-turn came just after a day after he said Britain was jumping the gun by stopping flights, after spies uncovered evidence that Islamic State-linked militants may have smuggled a bomb into the aircraft’s hold. Some 19,000 Britons and 45,000 Russians are believed to be in Sharm el-Sheikh, waiting to be flown home.

We are working with the UK Government at the highest level on a solution. In the meantime we are also working on a contingency plan so we can operate as soon as we receive permission to fly.

EasyJet spokesman

But the situation is becoming ever more confused. Earlier in the day, the British government said 29 flights would be taking off from Sharm - but Egyptian authorities limited that to just eight, citing a lack of capacity. it now appears more flights will be leaving but how the Russian intervention affects the physical issues of getting planes on and off the tarmac is yet to be determined. Meanwhile, the British government has also hinted that it would be prepared to cancel flights to other destinations if it was felt airport security measures were lax.

World Sharm